


Road Tripping

by LegallyBlondeAndDeadInside



Series: Road Tripping [1]
Category: Frankenstein & Related Fandoms, Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Genre: Adam is a mid-2000s emo, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship is cool, Henry listens to showtunes, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, LGBTQIA+, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, Multi Chapter, Queerplatonic Relationships, Road Trip, Shit talking paradise lost, Slow Burn, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Victor hates his monster son, Victor is sort of a prick, everyone has issues and that’s okay, is this enough tags yet?, just guys being dudes, mostly fluff through, sort of a mess, third person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegallyBlondeAndDeadInside/pseuds/LegallyBlondeAndDeadInside
Summary: The Frankenstein gang go on a road trip to the Grand Canyon where fluff, angst, awkwardness, and a splash of romance ensue.
Relationships: Elizabeth Lavenza/Justine Moritz, Frankenstein's Creature & Elizabeth Lavenza, Henry Clerval & Victor Frankenstein, Henry Clerval/Victor Frankenstein, Justine Moritz & Henry Clerval, Victor Frankenstein & Elizabeth Lavenza
Series: Road Tripping [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819414
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. The ties that bind

**Author's Note:**

> ♡

When Henry Clerval offered to sit next to Victor Frankenstein on their road trip, he did not picture that to mean stuck between him and his seven foot tall monster son. The trip was conceived by, surprisingly, Victor, on a Skype call at 3:06 of the past Tuesday morning, giving everyone just enough time to call off sick from work for the next few weeks in honor of the impromptu vacation. It was a bad idea and they all acknowledged that, but with enough coercion from Henry, the gang agreed to a two-week long, Grand Canyon bound drive. 

The early summer heat could be felt even with the air conditioning and cold glances that passed from his two friends. Justine and Elizabeth hardly seemed to notice the frigid hate in the backseats, the two friends dramatically singing along to the pop songs playing through the car speakers. 

It took a whole hour on the road for the father-son pair to start arguing…. for the fifth time. 

“Can you stop breathing so loudly” Victor seethed. 

“I would be able to, had you built me with smaller lungs” Adam snapped.

“Maybe I should have, then you wouldn’t talk so much!” Victor pointed at his creation.

“I wouldn’t talk so much? You’re the one who goes on tangents about how horrifying I am every ten seconds.” Adam leaned towards Victor.

“Well, maybe if it wasn’t true-“ Victor raised his fist.

Henry turned to Victor and took a long breath. 

“Guys, I love you, but please for the love of god, shut up,” he waved his arms. 

Victor looked at his friend for a long time, then Adam, then back to Henry, and nodded. The conformation was calming and Henry smiled. 

“I’m sorry about Adam,” Victor breathed.

“You’re sorry about me!” 

“Well you’re the one who’s causing us to fight!” 

“I can’t believe you!” 

“I am your creator”

“Then you should act like it“

Henry groaned and dropped his face into his hands. 

“How am I not acting like it?”

“You abandoned me the second I came to life because I am ‘Spooky’”

“Well you are!”

Someone tapped the top of Henry’s head and he lifted his face a few inches. 

“Just let them argue for now, they’ll warm up to each other eventually,” Justine waved her hand.

“Are William and Alphonse ever like this?” He asked.

“... not really, no… but I’m sure they won’t hate each other soon enough,” she turned back around and raised the radio volume.  
Henry put his earbuds in and did the same. Nonetheless, the argument continued to blare through his ears.

-  
After hours of cramped chaos, night finally fell and the five pulled into the parking lot of a decently cheap looking motel. Elizabeth spoke to the receptionist for a minute of which Victor and Adam were arguing, this time over who would shower first the next morning. Henry looked at Justine for guidance, but she appeared lost in her own world, cheeks dusted with a subtle shade of rose. 

“Justine?” Henry nudged her in the side with his elbow.

“What?” She shook her head. 

“Nothing you just looked…” he trailed off, vaguely motioning with his arms.

“I’m okay, don’t worry,”she put on a convincing, but nevertheless false smile. 

“Oh, you just looked-“

“I’m fine, okay. F-i-n-e” 

“You want to talk?”

“No” she shook her head, hiding her face in her hair. 

They did not speak until Elizabeth returned. For once, Henry was grateful for the argument, as it turned out the awkward silence. 

“They only have one-bed rooms, so I’m thinking we get two and one of the guys can sleep on the floor,” Elizabeth said to the group, “if you don’t mind of course,”

“It should be him,” Victor pointed to his son, who stood an uncanny foot and a half above his head.

No one, not even Adam, bothered to object aloud, figuring it for the best not to cause screaming match number twelve. When the men set foot in the cramped room and put down their bags, one immediately turned to exit. 

“I can sleep in the car.” Adam pulled up the hood to his sweatshirt and lingered in the doorway. 

“You can stay, we don’t mind,” Henry approached him, but could not put his hand upon his friend’s shoulder as he intended due to their heights. 

“Well, I do,” Adam put his headphones over his ears and slammed the door behind him. 

Henry turned around to see Victor smiling. 

“You need to be a better parent,” Henry sighed.

“In what sense?” Victor crossed his arms. 

“Your son would rather spend a night in Justine’s minivan then spend time with us.” he frowned.

“He’s not my son” Victor scoffed.

“You made him, he lives in your house most of the time… he needs you, dude,” Henry said. 

“He doesn’t need me. He was doing well for himself before he moved in with me,” said Victor.

“He tried to murder your brother!”

“Because he’s crazy!”

Henry looked at Victor silently for a long time.

“Victor, you’re the smartest dude I know, so how can you be so stupid” Henry frowned, “if you didn’t want him to be crazy, you should’ve raised him to not be” 

“He’s not… that’s not my responsibility,”

“You’re his father,”

“Creator,”

“Same thing,”

“Victor, please. He needs you,”

“He can provide for himself,”

“Not that, he needs your love,” 

Victor paused,lips drawn into a thin line. Henry stepped up to his friend and brushed Victor’s long, unruly hair behind his ear, smiling softly. 

“I know you can make things right,” he whispered.

“How am I supposed to love someone who hates me?” Victor took a step back, the corners of his lips drawing into a deep frown.   
“Adam’s prob’ly asking himself the same question. If you want to fix him, you have to love him, even if he doesn’t love you back,” The edges of Henry’s vision began to blur and his eyes stung.

“You sound like Justine,” Victor scoffed.

“Maybe I do, but at least she knows how to raise a kid to not be a psychopath,” Henry waved his arms. 

“He’s not a kid!” Victor snapped and began pacing about the floor, “He’s a mistake is what he is! A horrible, horrible freak of science that every day reminds me of my greatest failure. Tell me, how would you feel if your worst ever mistake followed you around, insulted you, and yet somehow still expected your mercy. I almost got my baby brother killed for god’s sake, all because of my own hubris and I am forced to think about it every second of everyday because of who you call my son!” 

“Victor, I-“ Henry reached forward for his friend.

“Please, I can’t have you hating me too,” he whispered, “I know I’ve ruined my own life, but I can’t bear to carry that thought alone,” 

“...You don’t have to, but it’s not Adam’s fault, and you shouldn’t take your feelings out on him,” he smiled, “you need to forgive yourself and make the best of your… weird situation,”

“Some things can’t be forgiven,” 

“I forgive you, stupid!”

Victor stood still for the longest time, a strange concoction of horror and regret swimming in his tearful eyes. 

“Everyone forgives you… except for you,” The spectre of a smile danced upon his lips. 

“And that wretch in the car,” Victor grumbled. 

“Prob’ly because you refer to him as a ‘wretch’” 

“I can’t be a father, Henry, much less his”

“Then be a friend,” Henry took a long step and held Victor’s hands in his, “I already know you’re the best at it,”  
Victor stared down at his shoes, his scowl fading into a contented grin.

“Thank you,” his voice wobbled as he looked upwards, “I’ll take your advice on one condition”  
“Which is?”

Victor gazed into Henry’s eyes with sharp sadness. 

“I’ll tell you if you promise to keep it between us,”


	2. Angsting by Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor wants Henry to run away with him, but he’s having none of it. Featuring Adam being emo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: referenced / implied drug use, so if that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to click off or skip over this chapter

-  
“I’ll tell you if your promise to keep it a secret,”

“Okay?” Henry tilted his head, confused.

“Promise me, Henry,” Victor held Henry by the elbows in a pleading position. 

“Okay, okay,” he nodded slowly a few times, “I promise,” 

“I plan to disappear soon… and I want you to come with me,” something shifted in Victor’s eyes as he spoke, softening to a slight but noticeable degree.

“... what?” Henry whispered “shit dude, you don’t mean a-“

“No! God, no we’re not actually going to die, just leave, start a new life for a while. I found this place in Arizona, not too far from the city that-“

“Why?” Henry reached out his hand. 

Victor ceased pacing and looked at his friend with silent disgust.

“We are not running away! We have jobs, our families, our friends,” Henry rubbed his eye with the back of his hand, “for Christ’s sake, dude,”

“Not forever, just until I can be rid of Adam,” he reasoned.

“You abandoning him made him try to kill your brother!”

“It wouldn’t be abandoning him, he has a life now. I just don’t want him living it with me,” 

“Can you even hear yourself right now?” His whole body felt warm with rage and embarrassment, “do you know how I felt when you were at university? You refused to answer my calls or texts. I had to call the school to make sure you were even still alive! I had a million people there for me and a million things to do, but that didn’t make being left like that any less painful,”

“I… I was busy,” Victor grimaced.

“Too busy to reply with a ‘k’ or ‘hey buddy I’m not dead in some goddamn forest somewhere so don’t let anyone worry about me, alright?’” Henry crossed his arms.

“That last one would be much more scary than-“

“Shut up unless you’re gonna tell me why you think putting everyone through that again is gonna solve all your problems,” he slammed his hand on the bed frame, “otherwise I’m sleeping in the car with your abandoned son”

“Stop calling him that! He’s not my son, he’s just a mistake, a-“ Victor curled his hand into a fist. 

“I get it, reminder of your greatest failure” he gestured across the room at nothing, “but he’s also a person, with feelings that have only ever been hurt by a creator that would rather run away into the desert than treat him right,”

“Get out,” Victor whispered the words with cold frustration, “if you would rather spend the night with that freak of nature, then go do it,”

Henry paused a moment, seeing a flash of his own remorse in his friend’s tearful eyes. Victor grabbed Henry’s backpack and shoved it into the man’s chest. 

“I thought you of all people would understand,” Victor grumbled.

The two were so close that Henry could feel Victor’s enraged breath upon his face, heavy with the distinct scent of black coffee. He stared at the man he once thought of as the light of his life, but now, he realized, was no more than a broken bulb.

“I thought you would too,” without so much as a goodbye, Henry stepped onto the sidewalk and slammed the door behind him, letting the warm night wind dry his tears.

He briefly debated spending the night with the girls, but as he approached their door, he could not bring himself to knock. It would be better if they didn’t know about the argument, he figured, and set off towards the van. 

In the parking lot, after kicking the sidewalk a painful amount of times, Henry found Adam sitting on a blanket in a no-parking area, reading a novel the size of his head, listening to music through a pair of dollar store earbuds, with a small, open Tupperware at his side. The area carried a sort of skunk like smell but he brushed it off as the location being a shady motel parking lot. 

“What?” Adam grimaced. 

“Victor kicked me out, do you mind?” He awaited a ‘no’.

“Why?” He squinted, examining Henry with his bile colored eyes.

“Don’t tell the girls but… we got into a fight,” 

“About?”

“... ya know, stuff,”

“Such as?”

“... Sleeping arrangements,”

“Sleeping Arrangements?“

“Yeah...”

Adam smiled but did not look up from his book. 

“Do what you want,” he said, “I would prefer not to sleep near him either,”

“Oh, thanks,” he sat down cross-legged on the blanket. 

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he shrugged.

“He’s not your enemy,” Henry tried to smile.

Adam’s expression turned grim.

“He’s the worst human I have met thus far who hates me with unrivaled passion. I would consider that grounds to be an enemy,” Adam laid back and gazed into the hazy night sky. 

Henry could not find the words to respond so he sat in silence, staring at the asphalt and trying to keep the tears in his eyes and anger in his heart. He focused himself on small tasks, flicking away ants, brushing the knots from his hair with his fingers. He tried to eat a brownie from the Tupperware, the owner of which was too absorbed in his book to care, but felt too sick to partake in more than half. 

His phone was left in the hotel room with Victor, so he had nothing much to do except sulk. Time passed, maybe minutes, maybe hours, he couldn’t be sure. 

A feeling of dizziness crept into his mind, as if he had just ridden a roller coaster, and yet, his thoughts were more clear than ever. Another hardcover book sat on the blanket, which he found to be a good distraction. 

“Paradise Lost?” Henry wondered aloud as he read the cover, “isn’t that the book about Lucifer having daddy issues?”

The creature chuckled for the first time in Henry’s memory. It was a low and inharmonious sound, rife with patronizing judgement. 

“Yes, it is that one,” he confirmed, a chuckle still lingering in his voice. 

“Hm, I remember reading that in, like, ninth grade literature class or something,”he mused, “it was pretty good from what I remember. I see how you can relate to it,” 

“Should I be offended by that statement?” His voice had returned to one more solemn.

“No! What makes you think that?” Henry blinked, “oh, right, Satan,”

“No, I do not much mind that part. It was just difficult to believe empathy coming from someone so similar to Frankenstein,”

“Oh… not as mean though, right?” He said, only about half-seriously. 

“I should hope so,”

Henry lay back upon the blanket, looking out into the murky sky above. The sight reminded him of an obsidian jewel, refracting light across every direction in a beautiful display of celestial art. So much dark, and yet, the lights shined so bright. 

“Or narcissistic, or short-sighted…” he extended his arm to the inky abyss, letting a few tears fall down his temples, “I really do hate him y’know,”

“No, you’re just angry with him. True hate is something much more potent,” Adam’s disinterested voice spoke. 

“Nah, I definitely hate him. I won’t tomorrow, that I know for sure, but for now, I’m just so-“ he clenched his hand into a fist.

“Frustrated?”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it… frustrated.” Henry let his arm drift to the side and rest on rough stone, still clenched with the tension of a pulled rubber band, “he just always makes me feel like that and I dunno what to do,” 

“Stop letting him hurt you then,” Adam deadpanned.

“If only I’d thought of that,” he giggled.

Henry let his head follow his arm, eyes meeting the shabby motel where his friends soundly slept. The flashing neon lights made his eyes sting, but he did not bother to lift his head. He let his eyes focus on the blurry sight ahead and caught sight of someone leaving Elizabeth and Justine’s room. 

He bolted up quickly as possible and raced across the parking lot at the presumed thief or murderer person. He tried to grab their wrist but paused when the person spoke. 

“Henry? What are you...?” Justine asked, taking up a fighter’s stance. 

“Sorry, I thought you where an uh criminal or something,” he took a step back, raising his hands above his head. 

“No, I mean why aren’t you like sleeping?” She let her shoulders fall but still looked on edge. 

“Why aren’t you?”

“Answer me first,”

Henry sighed. Justine crossed her arms.

“Victor and I got into a fight and-“ He started to explain

“A what!”

“Just a minor one, don’t worry,”

“A minor one that you where kicked out for?” She narrowed her eyes. 

“I wasn’t ‘kicked out’ I’m just hanging out with Adam until it all blows over,” He forced himself to smile.

“He kicked out Adam too? God, can you guys stay on the same page for five minutes,” Justine scoffed. 

“He left the second we got to the room, no one had time to kick him out!” Henry shook his head, “anyway, your turn,”

“I just needed some fresh air, alright. I couldn’t sleep, so here I am,” she shrugged. 

It was Henry’’s turn to be suspicious.

“What happened,” he asked..

“Nothing I-“ Justine turned away, “I needed some time to think is all,”

“Is it the same thing that was bothering you earlier?” He asked.

Justine didn't respond. 

“I knew something was up,” he found himself smiling.

“Yeah, well it doesn’t have to do with you,” she whipped her head around.

“It does… because you’re my friend,”

“Then be a friend and respect my boundaries,” she sat down on the curb and slumped forward, resting her chin on her forearms. 

“Okay, uh new topic, you can hang out with me and Adam for a while. We’re playing a game called, ‘sit in silence and pretend we don’t feel like crap’” he sat down next to her. 

“Sounds like fun, but I’ll have to pass. After what happened with William, I don’t really feel safe,” one of her arms dropped onto the street. 

“Then we can play, just me n’ you,” he tilted his head. 

“Maybe another night,” Justine smiled at the concrete, “you look either too happy or too high to play right,” 

“Ay, no problem… wait, high?” Something clicked in his mind, ”oh shit,” 

Justine giggled under her breath.

“What’s so funny,” he laughed too, but didn’t know the reason. 

“I never thought of you as a stoner,” she said. 

“I’m not, I did take one of Adam’s brownies which I guess-“

“Oh my god,” she started laughing for real, though much more in disbelief than actual joy, “should we talk to him about it?”

“Nah, I think I’ll leave the talking up to his dear ol’ dad,” 

“That’s a horrible idea,” 

“Maybe, but it’s worth a shot,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about being so slow to update, this week was pretty hectic! Chapter 3 should be up in a couple days so stay tuned ♡


	3. Reparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang runs into a pair of Victor’s old professors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently the last chapter posted twice. I fixed the issue but sorry about the trouble. 
> 
> Anyway, here’s the actual chapter 3 ♡

Henry did not bother with sleeping that night. Of course he had tried, but by the time he found himself even close to drifting off, the sun was already slipping over the horizon. He felt the high peak and eventually wear off, leaving him with nothing but an empty pit in his stomach. 

Victor had been the first to check out of his room. As he approached the car, he merely handed Henry back his phone and walked to the other side before a ‘thank you’ could be said. He glanced at the screen to check the time and it was an hour before the group was to leave. A missed call notification lingered on the screen. 

He was about to follow his friend, but Adam shook his head. Henry didn’t care and followed him anyway.

“Hey,” he said. 

“What?” Victor glanced up.

There were heavy bags under his eyes and his hair was sticking off into a million directions. 

“Nothing, just ‘hey’” he leaned back against the car door. 

“Well, ‘hey’,” Victor stood up and took a few steps away.

“About yesterday-“ Henry tried to say. 

“Don’t talk about yesterday,” Victor cut him off. 

“As I was saying…” he curled his finger back, silently asking him to step closer. 

“What?” He asked, not moving.

Henry groaned and took Victor by the neck of his tee-shirt, pulling him so close that their noses touched. Victor did not fight the motion, rather, he appeared to be withholding a smile. 

“Your son is on drugs,” He whispered and looked Victor dead in the eye.   
“How is that my concern? Wait, how do you-“ any joy in his eyes died and was replaced with confusion and anger. 

“Unimportant, but that’s proof that he needs help, right?” 

“Depends, what‘s he on?”

“I don’t know, weed I think but-“

“God, you made it sound so much worse,” Victor chuckled.

“Yeah, but you should still confront him about it,” He whispered, “it makes it seem like you care,” 

“That is the opposite of what I want,” he replied.

“But it’s the right thing to do,” 

“Fine, I’ll talk to him tonight so he can cool off over night. If we do it now that would make for a pretty awkward car ride, but you owe me one” he sighed, “are you letting go of me or…?”

“Sorry dude,” he dropped his arms and tried to walk backwards, falling forward as his ankle stepped underneath the car. 

Victor caught him with a sort of dip-like motion and the two burst into laughter. Tomorrow had come, and he could no longer feel angry. 

“I’m still mad at you,” He grumbled, only in partial truth. 

“Me too,” came the reply. 

-  
Another day of arguments passed, where the group achieved only a few hundred miles and an unreasonable, but definitely worth it, lifelong ban from IHOP.

Dinner that day went remarkably better than anything earlier, as for the first time in so long that the group was able to have a normal conversation for more than five seconds, at the cost of exiling Adam to the McDonalds Play Place after five minutes of arguing, citing that he was technically still a toddler, and thus was allowed to be left in the side room hell of plastic slides and germs.

“Imprisonment for his crimes,” Victor referred to it as. 

What crimes the grave-robbing potential psychopath was referring to remained a mystery to the group. 

For a minute, at least Henry felt that maybe he could survive the rest of this trip. During a lull in the conversation, Elizabeth leaned forward and whispered across the table.

“Don’t look now, but you’ll never guess who’s sitting right behind you guys,”

Both men immediately turned there to see two others, one very short and the other, though much taller, was significantly slouched. Henry hardly recognized the pair, but when he saw Victor with his head down on the table, struggling to hide his face, the synapses put themselves together. 

“It’s just a couple of professors, nothing to worry about,” Justine whispered, on the brink of laughter. 

“Professors that will see me and try to talk about the s-word,” he lifted his head to speak and immediately set it back down on the plastic table. 

“S-word?” Elizabeth asked.

“Science,” Henry clarified.

“Listen, they probably have a million students, what are the odds of them recognizing you?” Elizabeth lurched over the table once again and hovered just above it, poking Victor on the top of his head. 

“But what if they do?” 

No one knew how to respond so they sat in heavy silence. 

“How about this, if you sit up like a normal human being and on some off-chance they recognize you, I’ll owe you… I dunno, something,” Henry piped up. 

“You already owe me one!”

“Then I’ll owe you two,”

Victor huffed and sat up, though he leaned back in the booth with arms across his chest. 

“I thought I told you to sit up straight,” Henry took hold of his friend’s arm and tried to pull him upright, “you’re gonna give yourself scoliosis,”

“I’ve already messed up my life, might as well mess up my back,” he muttered under his breath and did not fix his posture whatsoever.

The table went eerily silent. Henry couldn’t be sure if the girls had heard what Victor said and didn’t really want to. It could have been less awkward had the men from the table over not found that to be the moment they would draw near.

“Oh, Professor Waldman, Professor Keats, what a nice surprise,” Henry announced, probably too loud.

“Kempe” the taller, and seemingly meaner of the two corrected.   
“Right, right. Victor, do you want to say ‘hi’?” He turned around.

Victor gave him a self-righteous smile and kicked his foot. 

“Good afternoon, how are you both, it’s been… a while,” Victor offered up a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Very well, thank you,” Waldman nodded, “and you?”

“Fantastic,” he said through gritted teeth.

The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. 

“I had something I wished to address with you,” Kempe coughed .  
Everyone set their eyes on Victor. 

“What is it?” He asked.

“There’s a man over in the children’s section that I briefly spoke with. He mentioned you in passing and I figured we may as well catch up,” Waldman gestured to Adam across the room.

“Oh that’s his.. cousin! Yeah, his cousin, Adam,” Justine was the first to speak up. 

“Cousin?” Kempe grimaced. 

“Second cousin,” Elizabeth added, “he’s adopted,”

Kempe muttered something to his partner, who then frowned. 

“They don’t really get along,” Justine wore a faltering smile, “you know how cou- second cousins are,”

The Professor clearly did not. 

“So he wasn’t created by means of alchemical techniques and science as he claimed?” Kempe raised an eyebrow.

Henry and the girls made an effort to laugh. He kicked Victor’s ankle, and he joined as well. The man was either crying or heavily sweating. 

“It’s an inside joke between them… telling funny stories like that to strangers,” Justine said.

Waldman nodded but Kempe squinted his eyes, unconvinced for a few seconds, before joining the uneasy laughter. 

“I see,” he said.

“Well then we won’t hold you any longer,” Walkman clasped together his hands, “I wish you the best of luck in your future studies, Frankenstein,l  
“You too,” He looked up at the professors, though only for a second. 

“Before I forget,” Kempe reached into his pocket and retrieved a small paper envelope, holding it out to Victor “you dropped this at the entrance,”  
He took the envelope and nodded, examining it closely. The professors walked away without another word.

“It was nice speaking to you,” Elizabeth called out, to no response.   
Nobody spoke as the professors exited the building. 

“I’ll be right back,” Victor stood and speed walked over to the restrooms, clutching the envelope in his shaking palms. 

“Here, let me-” Elizabeth tried to stand up, but Justine grabbed her arm.  
“Give him a minute, he needs it,”she breathed.

The two looked at each other’s nervous eyes for a period long enough to make Henry feel uncomfortable, but short enough to not warrant a mention.  
“Okay,” Elizabeth sighed and sat back down, but the gaze remained unbroken. 

“I have to go um… yeah,” Henry walked off at a pace that was possibly too quick, he could hardly tell, there was only one thought on his mind. 

The restroom was small, with only two, foul smelling stalls, one of which lay unopened, and a singular sink. The sound of labored breathing bounced off the tiled walls. Henry knocked on the locked door, sending a metal clang to echo across the room.

“Can I talk to you?” Henry asked, after the noise had died down.

“Later,” came the reply so quietly that it could hardly be heard.

“No, not later, now,” his tone became more stern.

“Yes, later. You owe me one,” his voice was quaking and muddled by tears. 

“And I’m not letting you use it now,” 

“Too bad,”

“Let me in,”

“No,”  
He paused for a second, and sat cross legged on the linoleum floor.

“What the hell are you doing?” Victor called.

“If you’re gonna sit here and sulk, I might as well join you,”   
“You’re an asshole,” 

“Thanks, buddy,”

The silence was filled only by the hum of electricity and stifled sobs.  
“Are you alright?” 

“What do you think,” he snapped between gasping breaths.

“Can you come out at least? Like outside or something? Fresh air would be good for you,“

“I’m gay,” he said with a sort of upset laughter.

“Yeah, I figured,” he found himself smiling, “but really. I’m here for you and I want you to know that,”

Nothing came in reply after that and Henry didn’t mind. 

“I didn’t see you with an envelope coming in,” he tried changing the topic, “what’s that all about,”

“Can we talk about this later,” the reply took a few seconds but was spoken in a single, short breath.

“As in?”

“Tonight… alone,”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally didn’t have to look up the professors names while writing this.
> 
> Stay tuned for chapter 4 coming soon! Thanks for reading


End file.
